Sister Kaylee Brooks: New area, new companion, and new people to love! So much to be THANKFUL for!!

Sister Wastlund and I emailing at the church
and playing sports games for P-day

Happy Thanksgiving :)

I seriously have so many things to be grateful for. I am so blessed. I have never been so happy in my whole entire life. So many blessings are coming my way and things are falling into place so wonderfully! Ahh, life is so amazing!

I transferred last week and am now serving in Harrisonburg, VA. It's North West Virginia and so far, it has been so wonderful. I already love it here. The ward is YSA and family, so we are able to work with both, which is really fun. Best of both worlds!! We have James Madison University (JMU) in our area, so we can proselyte there as well. Thank goodness, because I LOVE working on campus. We have another set of Elders in our ward, they are the zone leaders, and they used to be strictly YSA, but since it is Thanksgiving break this past week and school is going to be out soon, we compromised and said that we could all do both. These elders have been very nice to show us around and tell us things we need to know, since we did white wash. #blessings

Now, let me tell you about my cute companion. I LOVE HER TO DEATH. Her name is Sister Wastlund and guess where she is from.... you guessed it, St. George, Utah :) She went to Pine View High School. She seriously is the cutest thing in the world. I feel like I have known her forever, which I haven't, I just met her 6 days ago. We have been having so much fun together already. This transfer is going to be so darn fun. She is so amazing; I am so impressed with her already. I am so sad I am only going to be with her for 6 weeks, but we can hang out when she gets home.

It was really hard to leave Chippenham, I seriously love that ward so much. I have met so many wonderful people and have made so many wonderful friends there. I will cherish and hold on to those friendships forever. I met one of my best friends there. I am so glad God sent me there; he knew I needed the people and those friendships. I can't tell you how much I loved serving with Sister Fitt, actually I can, I love her so much I'm making her come to Dixie State University with me and live with us, so I guess you could say I love her around the world 1948194 times. She is amazing, she taught me so much and has also become one of my bestest friends. It was also so fun serving around the Ap's. Holy cow, they are such wonderful missionaries and do SO many things for this mission. But, thank goodness I can still talk, see and be friends with those I met forever. Reason #4321 why missions are amazing-the friendships. On Monday, there were about 15 of us who went out to a goodbye lunch for me. It was so sweet for everyone to come and it was fun being with them before I left.

Now back to Harrisonburg... We received a call Wednesday from our investigators Brian and Dee. They have been engaged for 5 years and want to get married, but they are waiting for school to be over because if they get married, then they won't have as much money. (Lame) They were introduced to the church by one of our members; she works with Dee in a dentist office. They had us over Wednesday night for a pre-Thanksgiving feast. They were so sweet. Brian is a little more into what we have to share and LOVES the Plan of Salvation. He was so excited when we were explaining it to him. They are so darn sweet!!

Michelle is a recent convert; she just got baptized about 3-4 weeks ago! Wow, she is amazing. She truly wants to do everything she can to be better and follow Jesus Christ. She has some struggles, but knows God is helping her along the way. She is so strong. We met her on Friday and the spirit she brings with her is amazing.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We went over to a member’s house and they invited a recent convert, his wife and his mother, They were Chinese, so talking to them was a struggle. Haha but they were so nice to have us over and invite us in to their home. They had a little boy named Samuel, he is 7. After racing little remote control cars and playing Uno, we sat down and I played the ukulele, while he sang Christmas songs. It was the cutest!! He's my new best friend.

We have been doing some tracting lately. I thought I would never admit it, but I missed it so much. It’s been so fun to knock on doors and talk to people again. I forgot how mean, funny, weird, sassy and great older people/families are!! It's been fun walking up and down streets and stairs talking about Jesus Christ.

We were out visiting some potentials and some investigators and we decided we should try Donna. Donna’s son, Cesar just got baptized a few months ago. She has been able to see such a big change in him and loves how spiritual he is now. He introduced her to the church and has met with the sisters once and has been reading the Book of Mormon. We asked her how she felt about it and she just paused and said, "It’s so amazing." We asked her how she felt about baptism and she said she knows she wants to; she just needs to get her answer first. She said she wants to take it a little slow, but when she feels the Holy Ghost, she won't be able to deny it.

Scripture of the week: D&C 50:24 "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." I love how in this gospel we are always learning and we are always receiving more light and becoming brighter every day as we learn. We need to continue to learn, so we can shine the light brighter to those around us.

I love y'all so so much!

Here's my new address for the next few weeks:

236 Rocco Ave. Apt. D

Harrisonburg, VA 22801